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The FA Cup third round always generates a sense of excitement and, 50 years ago today, nowhere was the anticipation greater than at Southport.

At a time when the Sandgrounders had gained recognition for their exploits in the cup, they were handed the sort of tie that captures the very essence of the competition: the chance to take on Everton at home.

With a star-studded cast, featuring two players who had won the World Cup with England 18 months earlier, Everton arrived at Haig Avenue for a derby with a difference and a clash that captured the town’s imagination.

All the ingredients were there: the underdogs at home against illustrious opposition, two local teams, a capacity crowd watching on and a bumpy pitch that Southport hoped would be a leveller.

There was also an element of history. Six of the Southport team started their careers at Everton and Billy Bingham, the manager, had won the First Division title during his three years as a player at Goodison Park.

Billy Bingham signs autographs for fans

Sadly for Southport, they were to fall short. With the prospect of a lucrative replay tantalisingly close, the Sandgrounders succumbed to a goal from Joe Royle, Everton’s 18-year-old striker, 11 minutes from time.

The result may have gone against them but, as an occasion, it remains one of the most notable matches in the club’s history.

The build-up was fevered, with reports claiming that the 19,000 capacity imposed by Police could have been sold three times over.

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Interest was such that the local press reported Everton fans had been phoning up households in Southport and asking to use their address in order to qualify for tickets.

The attendance recorded is Southport’s second-highest behind the 1932 fourth round replay against Newcastle United and, while the match will not be remembered for its quality, it still seen as one of the club’s biggest moments.

Southport line up for a free-kick at a packed Haig Avenue

“There was great excitement about the fact we were playing Everton,” says club statistician Geoff Wilde. “A lot of people were disappointed not to get a ticket, Everton were given so few out of necessity, and there were fears that thousands of Everton fans would turn up and try to get in.

“It was packed on the terraces but there were no problems. 18,795 was the attendance that was put out on the day but it is thought that there were more inside the ground.

“The Everton goal came late enough to give us hope of the bonus of a replay. By that time, we weren’t so much worried about scoring ourselves as holding onto a draw so we could get a big pay-out. Joe Royle got the goal that spoilt it all in that respect.”

Joe Royle (second left) scores the winning goal at Haig Avenue

In many ways, it was the tie Southport had wanted two years earlier, when they reached the fifth round, only to draw Hull City.

Under the management of Bingham, it was a memorable time for the Sandgrounders, who were competitive in the Third Division having achieved the club’s first promotion the previous season.

After years in the wilderness, Southport were on the up, but within a fortnight of the Everton tie, Bingham, who would later go on to manage at Goodison Park, had left for Plymouth Argyle.

“We were playing well at the time and I think the players felt we could beat them,” adds Wilde.

Alan Ball celebrates the winning goal

“We had such a strong team that even Alan Spence, our record Football League goalscorer, could not get a start.

“The aim was to destroy Everton’s rhythm which meant we didn’t play in the same way we had been doing that season. We were playing really good, studious football, and we wanted to see us beat Everton on merit by outplaying them.

“Eric Redrobe was assigned the role of being the battering-ram against their goalkeeper, Gordon West. It was a role that Bingham had given to him, not just in that game, and it is a job he confessed years later that he did not relish.

“As a result, the Southport supporters felt that we didn’t get the match that we were expecting. That was the one disappointment.

“Coming after what we had been through, the Bingham era stands out. We couldn’t believe it was all happening.

“We referred to the Southport teams from that time as the ‘Golden Boys’ and it wasn’t just because of the colour of their shirts.”

‘Mr Redrobe, I'm going to book you, because if I don't I will not get out of this ground alive and you will be lynched by those mad Evertonians.’

Everyone of a Southport persuasion who was at Haig Avenue on that day in 1968 has a story to tell, and striker Eric Redrobe gave his unique take on the game during an interview with the Lancashire Evening Post in 2009.

“On the day we played Everton in the FA Cup, I caught the 359 bus from Wigan to Southport,” he recalled.

“I didn't have a car, and the bus stopped at the end of my road. I got on and the driver said, ‘Blimey. You've got a tough one today, Eric. Have you got any spare tickets for the match?’

“Southport would get 5,000 for a home game, but when I got to the ground the place was jumping, with fans in trees and people stood on rooftops.

“The game started and there were a few naughty tackles flying in, and then I clattered Everton's goalkeeper, Gordon West.

“It wasn't malicious, but West was lying on the turf screaming and shouting - and the Everton supporters were baying for my blood.

“The referee called me over. ‘Mr Redrobe,’ he said, ‘I'm going to book you, because if I don't I will not get out of this ground alive and you will be lynched by those mad Evertonians.’

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“After the game, I decided to wait for a few hours for things to calm down, and caught the train home.

“I turned up at Southport station, nipped into the bar, and the place was full of Evertonians.

“I kept my head down, ordered a drink and sat down in the corner. Suddenly this huge Everton fan loomed over me and growled, ‘Hey la'. Aren't you that Southport so-and-so who smashed up our goalkeeper.’

“I told him I worked in a furniture shop on Lord Street. Thankfully, he believed me, but was I glad to see the Wigan train pull in to the platform a few minutes later!”

The official match programme

As Colin Alty and Alex Russell look out across the pitch at half-time during Southport’s match against Stockport County, few would think that, 50 years ago this weekend, a crowd of 18,795 converged on the same ground to witness one of the biggest games in the Sandgrounders’ history.

On January 27 1968, Southport hosted Everton in the third round of the FA Cup, a tie that saw Haig Avenue become the focus of attention and is still regarded as a stand-out moment in what was a special time for the club.

In their third season under the management Billy Bingham, himself a former Everton player, the Sandgrounders had hit the headlines with their achievements in the cup two years earlier, before gaining promotion to the Third Division.

It was a golden age and Alty and Russell were at the forefront. In their previous cup run, Alty had scored the goal that took Southport past Ipswich Town in a third round replay and Russell is credited with inflicting the downfall of Cardiff City in the next round.

Yet the tie against Everton was the one everyone wanted. The culture of football was very different from now but Everton still arrived having been billed as the ‘Merseyside Millionaires’ and in their ranks were some prominent names.

Their team had been assembled for in excess of £400,000 - a quarter of which was spent on Alan Ball who, along with Ray Wilson, had lifted the World Cup with England two summers earlier and was now running out at Southport.

Under Harry Catterick, Everton won the First Division title in 1963 with Bingham in their team, and the side that emerged onto the bumpy pitch at Haig Avenue also featured Howard Kendall, Colin Harvey, Brian Labone and Joe Royle, a young striker whose late goal would settle the matter.

“It was a fantastic game and I really thought we should have won it,” says Alty. “Stuart Shaw managed to put in so many crosses for us and we should have done better with them than we did. He tore Ray Wilson to shreds and Ray ended up being substituted.

Alex Russell (left) and Colin Alty

“They scored with the first really good chance they had but that was First Division quality. They had some good players, Colin Harvey was brilliant and they just seemed to have that space to work in.

“The occasion was brilliant, it couldn’t have been any better. The atmosphere here when it is full is great and getting more than 18,000 was fantastic. The players got here about three hours before kick-off, the TV cameras were in the dressing room, Police were on horses outside, it just wasn’t what were used to.

“Overall, we couldn’t have done any better than we did. They scored the only goal towards the end of the game. Howard got a cross in, Joe managed to get half a yard and it was a goal. It was a good header from about the penalty spot which went into the bottom corner.”

Joe Royle strikes

As well as Alty and Russell, the Southport team featured a number of other players who played key roles in a heady time at Haig Avenue, Arthur Peat, Fred Molyneux, Brian Reeves, Amby Clarke and Eric Redrobe.

“To confine a team of Everton’s class to a goal 11 minutes from time was a tremendous performance,” Bingham said afterwards.

Despite Everton’s status as one of the leading teams in the country, Southport were not overawed. In fact, many of the players knew others from the opposing side and that added to the interest.

“Both teams used to be quite friendly with each other,” says Russell. “There were quite a few of us who played for Everton as youngsters and we used to have a drink with some of their players on a Tuesday night.

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“We all came from big clubs. I knew Howard because he grew up in the north east like me and Colin Harvey was one of my best mates when we were at Everton.

“The build-up was good. There was a lot of talk about possibly switching the tie and in the end it was a surprise they played it here.

“The message was to keep it tight and we did a bit of man-marking. They had a good midfield: Ball, Kendall and Harvey, and our midfield lads were given a man each to mark. I didn’t particularly agree with it but you had to do it. They were strong lads and their first touch was always good.

Newpaper coverage at the time

“We were on a good run at the time and we thought we could beat anyone. I enjoyed the occasion but I was a bit disappointed with the way we played. I would have loved the chance to play at Goodison Park and a replay was what we wanted.”

That Southport were able to match Everton for so long, and even had ambitions beyond holding their opponents, was a mark of the quality within the team.

“No matter how far they travel on the Wembley trail, Everton will not have a harder game than they were given in defeating Southport,” read a match report from Alan Prole.

Everton did reach Wembley, losing in the final to West Bromwich Albion, but their third round visit to Haig Avenue gave Southport an occasion that is still remembered fondly.